


Wanted

by PastebunAnon



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Adoption, Cuddling, Cuteness overload, Loss, Partially a Greentext, adoption au, farming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-14 02:45:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16484567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastebunAnon/pseuds/PastebunAnon
Summary: An alternative universe where Nick Wilde was adopted by the Hopps Family, full of overwhelming cuteness and overcoming loss.





	1. Prologue

>Blinding rain and thunder was all that Nick could see as he trudged slowly up a muddy path.  
>A large cut on his leg from a falling branch making him move slowly, blood pooling into a line.  
>Just as he starts to move closer and closer to a faint light in the distance, the booming crack of thunder and lightning fills his ears, and he feels a crushing feeling throughout his body.  
>In a pool of sweat he wakes, just barely saving himself from falling off his way too small, rabbit sized bed.  
>As he pulls himself back into it, wrapping his legs under his body to give himself more room, trying to calm his breathing and stave off an eruption of tears.  
>He had been having these dreams for as long as he could remember, even though the Hopps had taken him in relatively quickly after his parents accident and he had been their for years, the dreams had not stopped.  
>He had been so little then he only remembered little snippets of what had actually happened, but his mind made up the rest of it. Constantly taunting him in his dreams.  
>He turned his head left and right a little, making sure his nightmare had not woken up any of his brothers or sisters, all of them still sleeping like rocks.  
>He couldn't help but smile a little watching them, their large ears flopping around in there sleep.  
>When he had first arrived, some of the younger bunnies had been scared of him, and it took years of his adoptive parents basically forcing them to be near him to make them realize he wasn't the Devil incarnate.  
>The feeling of being treated equally at home was a nice feeling that he still wasn't quite used to, some of his few memories of his old home were of his parents being harassed by big, prey mammals.  
>He laid his head down on his pillow and tried to doze off again.  
>...  
>...  
>...  
>"Rats."  
>He muttered to himself as he looked up at the clock on the wall, his attempt to fall back asleep had felt like an eternity but was only five minutes.  
>He swung his stiff legs over the mattress and pulled the covers off of his body,  
>CRACK  
>He felt a stab on pain course through his foot as he managed to hit it on one of the wooden feet of another bed  
>Trying practically not to scream, he reached up and covered his mouth with a paw, and continued to trudge towards the bathroom.  
>With a click of the light switch, he slowly shut the door and slide down it, sitting on the tiled floor.  
>The combined force of the dream and now having hurt himself finally broke down the damn of his emotions, and warm tears began to drip down his face, the fur matting slightly.  
>"Why me, why does it ALWAYS have to be me?" was the only thing he could think as he began to weep harder and harder, the legs of his pajama bottoms getting more and more soaked with tears.  
>He had been crying so hard he hadn't noticed the light tapping on the other side of the door  
>At first he tried to ignore it, hoping whoever was on the other side would just give up and go to bed.  
>That was not what happened, instead getting slightly louder and more persistent, a soft voice on the other side saying "Hello? Are you alright in there?"  
>He quickly tried to wipe his eyes on the sides of his shirt, while clearing his throat to try and make it sound like he was alright.  
>"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just going to the bathroom is all, do you mind?" He said, trying to sound as normal as possible but instead ending up sounding like his vocal cords had gone through a wood chipper.  
>Well, that plan was a tremendous failure.  
>"If you're sick or something I can go wake up Mom and Dad, you don't sound too good" the voice said  
>Oh God no.  
>Having to be around anyone else was NOT what he needed right now.  
>Why did someone have to wake up on this night of all nights.  
>He sighed and said "No, I'm fine. I just needed some alone time", still sounding like he was half dead.  
>The excuse wasn't very good obviously as she opened the door and he fell backwards.  
>He landed against the soft carpet with a thud, nearly knocking the small bunny over with his legs and tail.  
>With a soft groan he lifts himself up off the ground and looks over at the rabbit, making sure he didn't accidentally knock her into the wall or something.  
>She's fine, but is looking him over intently, noticing the tear marks all over his clothing, and the wet and clumped fur under his eyes and cheeks.  
>Before he can even say anything he feels her scoot over towards him and wrap her arms around his torso.  
>Anything he was going to say is lost from his tongue, and for the first time in a while, he doesn't know what to say.  
>He does know how it feels though. It's nice. His adoptive parents were usually the only ones who were willing to get this huggy with him, his brothers and sisters usually being weirded out by it, even with each other. That's what happens when you live with hundreds of mammals, he'd assumed.  
>But this was something different, something he wasn't used to at all. This kind of familial affection from a sibling was something he'd never experienced.  
>But he wasn't complaining though.  
>Without even thinking about it, he returns the embrace and hugs her back, nothing needing to be said for the moment. He couldn't help but start to cry again, a mixture of grief, anger and happiness welling up inside of him.  
>She just softly rubs his back fur through his shirt, trying to make him not that she isn't going anywhere. That she cares.  
>After a minute or two, he starts to feel a little bit better. He needed this. All he wanted and needed was for someone to hold him. To let him know that they cared about him.  
>And for once, he had actually gotten what he wanted.  
>He was wanted.


	2. A Helping Paw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick overexerts himself.

Tug. Lug. Pull. Haul.

That was what Nick's life had become in the days since school had gotten out for the summer, and do to his larger size, he was begrudgingly forced to carry many of the larger  
but still somewhat lighter objects and harvests that would usually take the rabbits three or four of them to get, as much as he laughed at watching his brothers and sisters and found how they managed  
to be so top heavy hilarious, he didn't want to see any of them get hurt. The feeling of being useful and getting treated well for doing stuff made the stiff, too short t-shirts  
that stuck to his sweat drenched and matted fur worth it, the muscle cramps and pains he got from moving small bales of hay and wheat from one spot to another got so bad that he  
almost wanted to drop to his knees and cry, but the sight of his much smaller siblings trying their damnedest to help him vain always brought a smile to his face, he couldn't help  
but want to hug the little boogers as they'd grab onto the bottom's of the bales, not doing anything to take any of the weight, but just the sight of it seemed to make the weight  
a little less crushing on his young frame. The work would go from sun up to sun down with only occasional breaks to get a drink and go to the bathroom, and meals, but even more surprisingly to himself the work seemed to go incredibly fast, the sense of community and camaraderie helped to make the work not a chore, even though it was incredibly taxing on his body, all the love and support made it worth it.

The type of work went on for days, then weeks, finally a month had passed, the things he was tasked with doing got gradually harder but he barely even noticed, he was more than happy to keep the little ones from having to do it,  
letting them stay on the sidelines or pick up little things that fell off the top of the piles, practically having to force some of the rabbits to stay away from larger things that if fell could crush them to death, keeping a joking tone while doing so  
to not scare them too much, but taking on a stern fraternal role that he had never expected to do, his old smug demeanor being used to coerce his siblings into doing what they were told instead of anything bad or something that could get them hurt.  
However he was not completely able to stop getting ahead of himself, one day after having to lug multiple wagons full of fertilizer across a field and up and down multiple hills, he had forgotten to bring any water with himself, and under the broiling summer sun,  
and doing the hard work he didn't even realize how dehydrated and worn out he was until he had came back in for the night, chugging almost an entire pitcher of water in what must have been under two minutes, his stomach afterwards so upset that he went to bed without eating a single bite, incredibly unlike the larger mammal. He crawled into bed with a thud and fell into an uneasy and restless sleep almost immediately as a strong fever took hold of him, the sound of his whimpers and whines filling the halls of the Burrow. It took his parents practically yanking him up in bed to force  
medication down his mouth, watching in concern as he instantly fell back asleep after taking it.

His brothers and sisters realized just how sick he was as he laid in the bed, tossing and turning all night long, making barely audible pained noises that none of them had ever head before, and they knew they had to do something about it. They couldn't just let their brother sit their in pain after all.  
At first a few of the rabbits laid a wet wash cloth across his face, one of them getting hit in the face with it as the ill fox swiped it off his head in his slumber, A few more tried in vain to get him to sit back up to drink some water, tugging on the scruff on his fur and failing spectacularly, making him land on his soaked pillow in a damp thud. They tried rubbing his head, holding ice to him, covering him in all of the blankets from the various beds, even trying to no avail to cool the fox down with ice cold water, none of it worked at all. Finally one of the rabbits had had enough, crawling up into the bed next to the fox, snuggling in near the crook of his elbow. They all listened intently as the sound of his deep breathing got more and more content, sounding less ragged and more normal. The other rabbits eagerly crawled up into the bed as well, cuddling into each and every available spot next to him that they could find, practically covering the fox in themselves. The heat of their bodies and the medication did it's job as he slept, snuffing out the fever overnight as he slept, his arms instinctually wrapping around his siblings to hold them closer to himself.

Nick awoke the next morning with a start, he at first could only think of the pounding headache that was throbbing in his skull, no doubt an after effect of the illness he had just overcome, but then he realized the various masses holding him down in bed were not just blankets, he craned his head up just enough to catch the glimpse of a dozen ears surrounding him, the feeling of paws clutching onto his own and his shirt. He sighed contently as he laid his head back down, his heavy eyelids closing again as he snuggled in better and drifted off to a much more restful sleep. This time, work could wait, and he knew he was safe.


	3. Childish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick has some fun at his expense.

Nick groaned as he recoiled suddenly and clutched at his now throbbing head, the brief dizziness taking hold of his body making him collapse backwards, landing horizontally onto a much too small bed. "Great..." he mumbled as forced his way up and back onto his feet, looking around to see if he had broken anything, feeling his heart sink at the sight of a broken glass on the floor, something that had somehow managed to follow him after he tripped. He swore internally as he made sure to duck upon exiting and entered the hallway, glancing up and noticing that his head was only about a foot away from it now, his fur almost grazing it, "I've gotta stop growing soon..." he grumbled bitterly as he gripped the door handle on the closest, twisting it and feeling the door not budge. He knew that it couldn't be locked, it was a door without a key after all, he tugged on it harder and almost jumped out of his skin as two rabbits came falling out of the cramped space with a thud, he took a few seconds to recover before asking what they were doing in the closet, preparing to have to lecture them for doing something they shouldn't, but sighed internally as he got the high pitched answer of "hide and go seek", and shooed them both off gently so he could clean the mess up.

The next thing Nick knew, he was on the ground yet again with an even bigger headache and a ringing is his ears, in the brief excitement he had forgotten that the closet door had a much, much lower ceiling and had clonked himself out harder than before, he reached up to feel his forehead, making sure that it wasn't bleeding or cut open, and crawled into the closet to grab the broom and dustpan, the repeated pain making him even more determined to clean up the mess he had caused than before. As he crawled out he was extra careful to not clock himself in the head a third time, and even made sure that none of his siblings were hiding behind him like usual, he slowly trudged his way back to his shared bedroom and sighed, relieved that the pile was still there and that no one had managed to step in it. He whistled as he swept up the shards and little slivers of glass, thinking to himself that maybe things were finally starting to go his way today, you can only have so much annoying stuff happen to you within a few minutes of waking up, right? His trip to the kitchen was uneventful as he slid the glass into the trash canister and explained to his parents what had happened, they gave him an understanding nod and a smile, nothing else really needed to be said. 

As Nick ate his lunch he felt his mood improve more and more, the taste of the carrot butter laden sandwich was bland as usual, but just the feeling of something made the memory of the horrible wake up fade away, his tail swished back and forth as he realized it was his day off from chores or really having to do anything, chuckling as he realized he should have known that's why he got to sleep in for once. With a reinvigorated spring in his step he stepped outside and took a long, deep whiff of the air, the damp humidity of summer enhancing the distinct scents of the various plants, vegetables and hay. His day dreaming was interrupted as he felt a small tug on his tail, he glanced down and say a few of his much younger siblings standing below him, smiling up at him in a big eyed, adorable way that made his heart feel like it was going to melt. He looked down and smiled back asking what they needed, smiling boldly as they asked if he wanted to "pway" tag, he said pretended to think about it for a moment, smirking, before saying the obvious answer of yes.

Playing tag with little bunnies was not as easy as he thought it was going to be. On top of being much faster than them and needing to slow yourself down to make it not completely unfair, he had to constantly glance down to not trip over, or even worse, step on any of the much, much smaller mammals, but all of the effort was absolutely worth it for the look of pride on the little ones faces as they "caught" him, and let them get away for a few moments before repeating the cycle over and over again, he couldn't believe that doing something like this was actually as much fun as it was, he never was one to enjoy childish things like this before after all, being a big brother was something that he was starting to feeling as less of an obligation and as more of something he enjoyed and more importantly wanted to do, even though he had not yet learned all of the rabbits names, and in all probability, would likely always have a problem with, he cared for and, as much he was not used to this word, loved them. 

He was so caught up in chasing after the little ones that he hadn't even noticed it had started to rain until he heard the low rumble of thunder off in the distance, the sound of which made him shudder softly, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and announced that it was time to go inside, three of the four rabbits whining in disapproval but following his instructions and heading back off towards the burrow, the other defiantly kept running around in the now increasingly heavy rain, the sound of the thunder getting louder and deeper as the storm in the distance approached, he repeated himself to the rabbit more sternly and pointed a finger off towards the burrow. He sighed as the rabbit stamped it's food and said the obvious, that he still wanted to play. Nick sighed and walked over to try and pick up the rabbit, knowing that arguing with a child was practically pointless and managed to just reach down before the rabbit ran off as another rumble of thunder filled the area. 

He easily caught up to where he though the rabbit had ran off to, but did not see him anywhere, he felt himself get warmer and warmer despite the rain as he looked around in the foliage in an attempt to find the hiding rabbit, knowing that he was probably behind a large rock or a tree, He checked behind another, indistinguishable tree as he heard a louder rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning in his peripheral vision, a tinge of tightness filling his chest as he started to shout the rabbits name, the situation sending pangs of panic through him. He began to look around aimlessly and behind anything he could, not paying attention to anything underneath him, only in front. He screamed as he heard a loud clap of thunder, and felt his feet go from out underneath him.

Mud. Lots of mud everywhere. He spat a mouthful of the stuff out of his maw as he sat up and heard a faint giggle from behind him, seeing the rabbit sitting on one of the branches of a nearby tree. With a splish and splosh, Nick crawled out of the hole he had landed in, seeing that someone had pulled a tree stump out of the ground and had not bothered to fill it back in with dirt. He wasted no time as he reached up into the tree and grabbed the rabbit, ignoring his crys and complaints and even the thunder as he carried the rabbit back towards the house, feeling his tail and everything else getting weighed down by the increasingly wet mud, having to fight back cussing as some of it ran down into his eyes, he opened the door and deposited the rabbit into the kitchen, frowning as he walked through and all the rabbits he bumped into couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the mud laden fox. He finally got into one of the bathrooms himself and looked in the mirror, and saw just how coated he was. He couldn't help but laugh too as he turned away and headed to take a shower.

The rest of the day went as normal as it usually did, he pitched in and did some minor house work to not feel like a complete free loader on his day off, helped some of the rabbits who were stuck doing summer school with their homework, and other various smalls tasks to relax after the exhausting first half of his day. Just after dinner, he was called into the kitchen with both of his parents and the little one who ran off, who he now knew was named Rich, who they both made apologize to him, he accepted it and thought that was that as he started to walk away, pausing as they both asked him to stay. He couldn't help but tear up a little as they thanked him for being a good brother to the younger ones, and for being a good role model. "That's what I'm here for" was his only response.


End file.
